


the greatest gift - to believe in yourself

by Lavisyste



Category: Majo no Takkyuubin | Kiki's Delivery Service, どうぶつの森 | Animal Crossing Series
Genre: Crossover, First Time Away From Home, Fluff and Humor, Gen, Growing up is hard and no one understands, Koriko is infused with a mix of Animal Crossing New Leaf and City Folk, Modern Fantasy, Settling Into New Life, Witches, alternative universe
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-04
Updated: 2019-06-04
Packaged: 2020-04-07 23:34:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,965
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19095277
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lavisyste/pseuds/Lavisyste
Summary: Once a witch turns thirteen, she must be ready to start her year long training away from home. It's meant to be a time of growth and self-discovery.Kiki is a thirteen year old witch is finally ready (and very excitied!) to start her new life away from all she's ever known. After a bit of trouble getting into the air, she's off to find a new place to call home. She finds a beautiful port city called Koriko, and knows its the one.The only problem is..... its a city full of talking animal people?





	the greatest gift - to believe in yourself

“Look, Jiji! You can see the ocean from here!”

A port city, just out of reach from her perch high above in the sky, and an entirely brand new world; hers to discover, to explore, to learn, to grow! The perfect town for a witch in training, in Kiki’s very humble opinion! She had never been in a town so close by the sea before. She thought of her own hometown, with its rolling grassy fields and the sound of bells in the large oak trees surrounding her house. How the clouds would lazily roll on by an eternal blue sky, and the lake she and her father would fish at in the summer.

She’d love her hometown to bits, and forever, but she was excited to start anew. With a view of the ocean, and a cute little clock tower too.

Though, as she swept down into colorful buildings and populated streets that stretched on for miles, she noticed something a little worrying. Well, she _thought_ it was something she was supposed to be worrying about? About what she was seeing? Because as she understood it, non-magical folks might actually be very worried about what she was seeing right now! Her father certainly would be!

The vibrant port city she was so eager to start her new life in was full of colorful, talking, breathing….animal folks. Cats, dogs, ducks, wolves, elephants, parrots, chickens – why, there didn’t seem to be an end to it at all! As far as her eyes could see, everyone was one type of animal or another, and she was the only normal human around.

 

"Maybe we should pick a different place, Kiki," Jiji worried, looking down at all the inhabitants.

 

"Well, maybe they're nice, you don't know...." Kiki said, mostly to reassure herself that things would be alright. Just because they were different didn’t make them _bad_.

 

 

 

 

 

Kiki was already used to be being a bit different from everyone else. Her mother was a witch, and she was a witch, and they were the only witches in her hometown, so that had separated them from the rest. Towns couldn’t have more than a few witches at a time, and small towns, like her hometown, only had the one.  All of this _was_ a lot to take in, and definitely a bigger different, but that was okay! She had lived in her hometown just fine, things being as they were, so she just had to keep her head up high and do her best.

Though, to think a place like this could exist at all was amazing. She wondered if maybe a touch of magic was involved, and if a witch had made it so, long before she had arrived here.

Distracted by her shock and her thoughts, she didn’t realize she was heading straight for a bridge, nose-diving hard to avoid it, only to land herself right in the middle of the street traffic. She swerved, trying to regain control of her mother’s broom, as they went up, down, left, and right, narrowing avoiding a crash every time by sheer luck. Cars, carts, and pedestrians all looked in shock and the only thing she could do was just shout apology after apology.

Jiji kept complaining that he was going to get _sick_ if she continued on like this, and she just got annoyed. She was _trying_ not to hit anyone! Getting hit with the broom would hurt, first of all! And what kind of first Impression would that be, someone just being _hit_ with her broom and getting hurt badly? No good impression at all!

Eventually, she did regain control of her broom, and landed safely on a street corner. A crowd of some cute animal folk stared at herself as she took a deep breath, smiled, and introduced herself as the new local witch. Confusion grew on their faces as the crowd whispered, and shrugged their shoulders. Her smile faltered a little, but she kept it as some of them _seemed_ friendly, nervously welcoming her into town before walking away.

It was then that her smile fell.

 

 

 

 

 

“Hey, um! Miss! You….you can’t do that! It’s not… it’s not allowed!” She turned as she saw a short, chubby bulldog with the droopiest face she had ever seen waving at her with his cap. He was in a blue work uniform, so that meant he was a…. _police dog_? His uniform made him look like a police offer, even if he didn’t really act like it. He kept avoiding her gaze, and his hands were trembling. Still, she didn’t want to get in trouble.

Innocently, she whispered, “You’re not going to tell my parents, are you?” Staring downward with wide eyes, clinging to her broom.

 

"I mean, well.... I kinda have to? You look like you're a kid, and I gotta do my job." He stammered, rubbing the back of his neck.

 

Her mind going blank, Kiki said the first thing that came to her head. “But what about that lady over there, they’re stealing her stuff!” She cried out, pointing to a random direction in the crowd.

 

“Ack, what?! I gotta go, stay here!” The bulldog raced toward the imaginary crime, leaving her to run for it as though her life depended on it, her heart racing.

It was the first real time she had outright lied to get out of trouble, and she was scared. Scared the poor police dog would come back to chase after her, and she’d really be in hot water. But it seemed her lie bought them enough time to get a fair distance away without attracting anymore attention. Jiji chided her for it, of course, asking how she could straight up lie to that poor police man, and that they were lucky she managed to look convincing. _And_ that he seemed totally clueless, which Kiki didn’t appreciate it.

 

“Don’t go making it a habit, Kiki. You’d be a terrible liar,” Jiji said and she huffed.

 

“I had to do it! Otherwise… we’d be in jail right now,” she said, staying firm. “Do you want to be in a place where all you’ll get for dinner is weird meat paste?”

 

She didn’t like it at all, but in that moment, she had to do something, even if she felt terrible about it. She had to find a place to stay, and she couldn’t do that in police custody. And then they would tell her parents, and she really didn’t want her mom knowing about what just happened.

 

 

 

 

 

On top of everything, finding a place to stay was so _hard_.

Most hotels or inns asked if she was with her parents, or if she had any identification, both not true. Every desk clerk would then sigh, smile at her, and say there was nothing they could do for her then, because she was considered too young to be on her own. Kiki sighed in frustration as she sat outside next to the latest hotel she had tried, and once again, a neatly dressed white swan lady told her no, unless she had ID, or if she was her parents, she couldn’t be allowed to have a room. Kiki thanked her anyway, and the swan lady wished her luck.

Thirteen wasn’t too young to be on her own, right? That was when her mother went on her journey, and her grandmother, and her great grandmother, and her great-great grandmother….She just didn’t get it.

Passing by a store on her search to find a place to stay, she stopped to peer inside. On display were the prettiest red shoes she had ever seen. She looked at her own faded slippers, and back up to the display shoes, and frowned. Her mother hadn’t given her enough money to spend on shoes – she wanted her to spend it on important stuff, like food.

Just then, a small group of girls in bright, pastel spring dresses walked on by. All their dressed looked new, each in different floral patterns and matching bows and ribbons. She sighed, looking at her reflection in the glass – her plain black dress, her faded slippers, and her red ribbon. Her mother had said it was a _tradition_ , and that witches had been wearing black for _centuries_ , and that she _should_ be proud.

Kiki just felt like a country bumpkin instead.

 

 

 

 

 

Someone had overheard her plight. It was a cute, bright blond dog lady, with two bells tying up her hair. Her name was Isabelle, and she worked for the old city mayor, and the new one that had arrived a year ago. She was very sweet, welcoming Kiki into their lovely city, and directed her toward a tanuki named Tom Nook. He ran both his own store, and a real estate business. He was a well-respected man, and a good raccoon, by Isabelle’s accounts. Kiki figured she really had nothing to lose, thanked Isabelle, and made her way to Nook’s estate business.

It ended up not working out.

She sat in front of his desk as he looked over papers she couldn’t understand. Numbers, sizes, pricing for things – things like that, she guessed. A blue otter in a red suit typed away in the background, looking at the inside of many different houses and grading them, she guessed? Another otter, pink this time, sat with a red headed girl talking over the phone with someone – something about redecoration. That girl was the first human she had seen, and she caught Kiki staring so she just looked back to Nook’s desk.

Kiki could hear whispers about herself.

Nook explained that the down payment to have a house built was going to be ten grand. Houses on the market were nineteen grand! Kiki really couldn’t afford either, and she didn’t like the idea of being in debt to Nook, even if he was super nice about it.

A dog, in a similar red suit, walked down from the upstairs office, chatting up with Mister Nook. “Isabelle and I are going out for drinks this Saturday, Tom. You want in?”

 

“Ehh… I don’t know, Digby. My sons are coming in from the countryside tomorrow. I’m supposed to be teaching them how to run the store soon.” Nook explained, sighing.

 

“Those two? I’m sure they can handle themselves for a night – you aren’t planning on keeping them awake until midnight, are you? Your wife will _kill_ you!” Digby joked, his tail wagging.

 

“How did you get Isabelle to agree anyways? She’s more of a workaholic than me.”

 

“I _might_ have promised we’d go to karaoke. With _you_.” Digby laughed again as Nook shook his head, muttering on how his singing skills were terrible.

 

Kiki interrupted to apologize, and thank Nook for his time. He said it was no problem, and that he wished her good luck. Digby said the same, and also mentioned that his sister Isabelle might be able to help, if she went to City Hall. She thanked them again and made her way out.

She sighed. She was right back where she started. Going to Isabelle had made her go to Nook’s, and she didn’t think she could go back to her again after speaking with her brother. She’d just have to find her own way. Somehow.

 

 

 

 

 

In the orange glow of the setting sun, Kiki sighed again at how hopeless her situation seemed. She had walked the whole city twice over by how sore her feet felt, and she had found no one who could help her. She didn’t want to be in debt to Nook, Isabelle couldn’t help her, and Digby worked for Nook. Going back to the police dog would be admitting she was lying, and she could get into even more trouble for that.  Jiji joked that he guessed they’d just have to live on the street and she whined, telling him to knock it off and that it wasn’t funny. There had to be someone who could help her…

She stumbled into the less crowded parts of town, only to find a lone café in the center of a small plaza, surrounding by mature oak trees and roses of every color. She walked closer, admiring the orange white circle patterns of the ground underneath her, and looked up at the sign. It read ‘The Roost, Open 24 hours’. Kiki wasn’t a bird, but she guessed she _did_ need a place to roost like one. Looking through the window, she could see people inside. A fancy pigeon with glasses was behind the counter, cleaning cups, and there was a white dog with a guitar strapped to his back. She gulped. She might as well enter and see what it was all about. It wasn’t like she had anywhere else to go at this point…

The first thing that struck her was how _warm_ the place felt. Yellow lights hung from the ceiling, illuminating a cozy little café, with wooden chairs and tables. There was a bookshelf on the far right, filled with all types of books, and a homely plant living in the corner by the entrance. It also smelled strongly of coffee, and it made sense, since the place was a café, and she could see bags of coffee beans on the shelf behind the fancy pigeon. The dog she saw turned to her as she opened the door and walked in.

“Oh, hey. You’re new. Friend of Jack? You seem to be into Halloween stuff,” he smiled, in a warm deep voice that made her flush a little. He seemed to be a very nice dog, at least.

 

“N-no, sir. I’m a witch in training. It’s a tradition to wear black,” she explained, a little nervous. Even if her dress looked ugly, it was _tradition_ , her mother told her.

 

He quirked his eyebrows up. “Oh, a real witch? Far out, man. Far out. You on your own then? I’m K.K. Slider, by the way. Nice to meet you….?” He trailed off, and she swallowed.

 

“Kiki, sir. And yes. Sir. It’s part of my training – I have to leave home for a year,” she replied, clinging to her broom.

 

“Kiki. What a nice name. You got a place to stay, maybe? Anywhere? Or just on the road?” He asked gently.

 

She looked down, glancing around. “Well, no…. I don’t have anywhere to stay, actually….”

 

Mister KK took one look at the gentlemanly pigeon behind the counter, and slowly, the pigeon stopped before shaking his head and putting down the cup he was cleaning. “Come on, Brewster,” KK pleaded with him. “I’m sure she’ll be a hard worker, and she’s young with nowhere else to go. Don’t you remember those days back out with Nook and the gang in the city? You would have wanted help then.”

Brewster – which was such a punk name for such a fancy pigeon – sighed again, and responded quietly. “….Yes.”

Mister Brewster looked at her, and she looked up, nervous. “I… do have room upstairs. But you’ll need to work part time for it. Is that…alright?”

 

Beaming, Kiki nodded her head. “Of course, sir! I promise I’ll work very hard!”

 

After finding room and board with the mysterious Mister Brewster, he let her go upstairs to explore her new little attic room. He had told her where to find sheets, blankets, and a pillow for her bed. If she found anything coffee related, he requested that she’d bring it downstairs and he’d store it somewhere else. After mentioning she hadn’t eaten all day, after bringing the third box of coffee down, Brewster stopped her immediately and made her dinner. A creamy vegetable soup, and she had a good time chatting away with Mister KK before he left.

Before long, her new bed was made, and she was airing out the room in early evening, and scrubbing the floors. Her feet had told her she wanted to work in the morning, but it wasn’t healthy to sleep in all that dust. So, she had put a bandana over her mouth and tied her dress up to her knees and cleaned the whole room. She listened to the soft musical tracks playing downstairs, alongside the sound of coffee brewing and different people’s conversations. It gave Kiki a chance to really think about how she was now going to be head witch of a city full of animal people, as she wiped her brow. It was really happening. She now lived and worked for a pigeon man in an apron who made coffee and had a cool dog friend. And well, Kiki was okay with it!

She had fallen asleep late that night, with her window open to the sound of the waves and crickets outside, and to Brewster’s machines whirling away.

 

 

 

 

 

When she woke up, he had made her breakfast, and let her have the day off to rest and relax a little more before going off to work. He had noticed that all she had brought with her was a shoulder bag, a radio, her broom and some savings; he asked her why she hadn’t brought more stuff with her, since she was essentially uprooting her life for a year. Kiki explained that flying light was the best option, since she was young and couldn’t hold onto much. It was tradition too, to only have very little in order to properly ‘start over’. She thanked him for the breakfast and he told her have a good day.

Mister Brewster had given her an induction burner he had, and now she was going to have to buy the rest.

She whistled as she went over to the shopping district of the city, in awe of all the colorful flags they had put up near the square. They waved in the wind, as people moved to and fro from shop to shop, street to street. She had ended up right in front of Nook’s other business – his retail store, and the one he had first, she thought, because it had been mentioned first, hadn’t it? The place had an age to it too – the sign was a little faded, and the wooden beams outside were stained with time. The store _must_ have been here first, then.

Kiki went inside, the little bell above the store ringing the attention of Mr. Tom Nook and his sons, who must have come in not too long before she did, because they still had their suitcases in their hands. They looked so cute, almost like mini versions of Mr. Nook himself.

“Oh, Miss Kiki! Such a pleasure to see you. I take it you found room and board?” He asked her, in a light sing-song voice.

 

“Oh! Yes, Mr. Nook. I work for Mister Brewster in his café,” she replied, and he smiled.

 

“Ah, Brewster. Good man, that one. Say, can you do me a favor? Return this to him – he’ll know what it means,” Mr. Nook said as he handed her a playing card – an ace card.

 

“Of course, Mr. Nook!” She smiled, giving a slight bow.

 

“Now, go on. I wouldn’t want to interrupt your shopping.” He waved to her, and he took his sons into the back room. She waved back, a little nervous, since she wasn’t really used to being on her own, but she would respect Mr. Nook’s privacy with his sons.

Taking a basket, she lost herself in the aisles, deciding on what to buy. She didn’t have much, so she had to buy light.  In the end, she got herself a cast iron pan, eggs, flour, milk, a spatula, and a mug that Jiji ended up liking a lot, because it had his face on it. On her way out of the cooking aisle, she had bumped into a blue unicorn named Julian, and they both apologized at the same time for the same thing. She laughed, and he said he was truly sorry, and she said it was alright – it had been kind of _her_ fault, anyways. Julian seemed like easy company, so they waited in line together until she paid for her stuff and went. She wished him a good day, and she went back to the café.

Brewster had already labelled half of the fridge as hers, and let her store her stuff in it as she thanked him again for everything. She gave him the playing card. He thanked her, and it went into a box under his counter.

The rest of the afternoon was spent in her favorite shirt and shorts she had packed, washing her dress and underwear by hand, and setting it to dry by the window. She had popped downstairs to borrow a few books from the bookshelf, and turned on her radio as she opened the first one she had picked – Mary and The Bell Tower. She sighed as she let herself sink into her bed, the radio saying something about the weather, and the seagulls crying outside.

 

 

 

 

 

The next morning, training finally began.

He had her change into a white button up, with a black vest. It was big enough that she could wear it over her dress, and since her dress skirt matched the vest, it was a perfect fit. Now in her uniform, he patiently taught her what machine did what, and how to use them. He taught her what temperature coffee should be served at, and the differences between the different blends he had in stock. She was given tiny cups of each to taste the difference – which was sweeter, which was bitter, and how to tell key signs on a person’s preference. She nodded, committing it all to memory so she didn’t disappoint Mister Brewster.

Even if she didn’t find herself liking coffee all that much, she did feel like she was really learning from a master. And well, if she didn’t feel mature and like a proper young lady sitting next to him at the counter, taking sips of her sweet chocolate mocha with lots of milk, all with an air of grace. She could get used to that feeling.

 

"Please... do your best." He gently asked of her, when they were finished.

 

She nodded.

 

Kiki usually worked the mornings, and the late evenings; at every other hour, he gave her free range to do as she liked, and gave her paycheck at the end of the week. If she didn’t have somewhere she wanted to go, or a person she wanted to visit between her shifts, she normally helped keep the place clean. Mister Brewster always told her she didn’t have to do that, but Kiki insisted. The café wasn’t so big, so it didn’t take long to clean. Patrons would often find her with her dress pulled up to her knees, scrubbing the floors. Someone had even given her what they called a ‘wet floor sign’ – it read ‘CAUTION: KIKI IS CLEANING’. She laughed, and thanked them very much.

Mister Brewster was quiet, yet very kind. He rarely spoke unless spoken to, or if Mister KK had come in to have a chat. He always seemed so happy when Mister KK came in, and Kiki could admit she was always very happy to see him as well. Mister Brewster was always behind the counter, meticulously cleaning all his cups and glasses to a polish. Jiji thought he was a weird pigeon, since it seemed that Mister Brewster didn’t have much of a life outside the café. Kiki didn’t mind. He had been kind enough to let her stay in his spare room upstairs so long as she worked, and she considered that a fair bargain.

As mysterious as Mister Brewster was, she didn’t mind.

 

 

 

 

 

Digby came by the café on a Tuesday morning. Mister Brewster took his order as she dutifully cleaned the counter, and they engaged in chit chat. Digby asked how Mister Brewster and Mister KK were doing, how the business was doing, any funny stories, and finally went to her and asked how she was doing. She beamed at him, saying she was doing great and that it was nice working in the café because Mister Brewster was such a nice boss. Digby chuckled, saying he _wished_ Mr. Nook was a nice boss like Mister Brewster.

 

“But…. Mister Digby….. Didn’t you ask Mr. Nook to go out for drinks?” She asked, a little perplexed.

 

Digby laughed again, his tail wagging. “Oh, remember that do you? Well, yes, and we did go out for drinks but he ended up totally out staging me! And he gave me _twice_ the amounts of reports to file.”

 

“Nook is…. Vindictive when he wants to be,” Mister Brewster added.

 

“Anyways, terrible boss aside, how did you end up working for ol’ Brewster here? I’m assuming he didn’t exactly give you stuff out of the kindness of his heart….” Digby trailed off with a smirk, and Kiki was sure Mister Brewster was mildly annoyed as he started polishing a little harder.

 

“Well, I didn’t have anywhere to go. No hotels or anything would take me because I didn’t have ID.” She explained quickly, moving the focus back to her.

 

“Wow, really? No ID? Kiki, since you have an address and all that, you should go to City Hall and see Isabelle. She’ll give you an ID now that you live here. It’s a useful thing to have, you know.” He told her, and she nodded.

 

When her shift was over, she took her broom to City Hall. She landed safely near the plaza near the town tree. It was a lovely old tree whose leaves swayed in the soft wind. The bricks surrounding the tree were a little cracked, and she could count at least five big ones she saw. The tree must have been planted a long time ago, she thought, before entering City Hall to see no one at the desk.

Raising an eyebrow, she tried hitting the bell at the front, and nothing happened. No one came out. She sighed, figuring she was just going to have to wait. She sat down on comfortable black leather seats, looking at the reddish-brown tile flooring. A green rug was laid in front of the desk, where Kiki had been standing a few moments ago. There was a plotted plant in the corner, next to more black leather seats, and the desk itself was made of a nice wood. If she peered over, she could see stacks upon stacks of paper, an ink bottle, and books. They were mostly law books. It was a very fancy office.

In the back, she started hearing whispers and saw two shadows through the frosted pane of the door to the mayor’s office.

 

“I told you, this isn’t the right time to discuss this,” A female voice said, and Kiki slowly remembered the chime of bells belonged to Isabelle. Was she arguing with the mayor?

 

“So, when _is_ the right time then? Aren’t you going to give me an answer?” A male voice – she guessed that was the mayor. He sounded angry.

 

“Well, maybe _I_ don’t want to _talk_ about it!” Isabelle shouted, and Kiki was afraid. Isabelle had sounded so sweet – she couldn’t imagine her getting angry.

 

The door opened where Isabelle left in a huff, a sad look on her face before noticing Kiki waiting behind the desk, and quickly erased any signs she was ever sad to begin with. She cheerfully asked how she could help, and Kiki stood up, saying it was about her ID. Isabelle nodded, handing her a form with a pen to fill out. Once she did that, Isabelle sat at her desk and typed away at her computer. Though she was pretending like she just didn’t get out of an argument a few moments ago, her sadness still showed when she thought Kiki wasn’t looking. But with a smile, Isabelle said it was all done and that her new ID should come in the mail in about a week’s time. Kiki smiled, bowed, and thanked her for her help.

She didn’t mention what she overheard.

 

 

 

 

 

One Saturday morning, just as she went downstairs, adjusting her button up along the way, Brewster told her that she didn’t need to put on her uniform. With one finger still trying to find the hole for one of the buttons, she blinked at him because it was way too early to take a lunch break. She asked him why, and he explained that there was a Fishing Tourney being held today, and for most citizens, it counted as a holiday. She would only have to work her evening shift, and he told her to go out and have some fun.

She smiled wide, and thanked him as she ran upstairs to put her button up away and switched her flats for boots and her ribbon for a wide brim hat. She had earned enough money to buy herself some things other than food – like shoes or fishing poles. Mr. Nook commented that there were a lot of competitions for things like bug hunting or fishing, and that she should at least invest in a net and a fishing pole of her own. She did so, not wanting to ignore his advice, and she was thankful she did!

Most of the fishing for the Tourney was held by one of the rivers that cut through the city and flowed out into the sea. Intricate white cobblestone footpaths had been laid right next to the river, and small bridges would arc over the streams. It was all in a mostly residential area, so a lot of people would come out from their houses to fish nearby..While there was usually quite a few people passing through, on the day of the Tourney, the place was pretty full! Kiki kind of cheated a little by flying overhead to find a good spot, before landing down next to Julian and taking a seat on the bridge. She hadn’t expected to find him there.

“Oh, Kiki! What a coincidence that we were to meet here, on the day of the Tourney!” He said dramatically and she laughed.

 

“Yeah. May the best fishermen win!” She said, and she casted her line.

 

Kiki would have thought that the Tourney would be more exciting, since so many people had come out of their homes to stand next to each other to fish, but it was actually more relaxing then anything. What she really saw happening was that most people actually saw this as a reason to talk to their neighbors, and a lot of them were having pleasant chats with each other. Julian and she talked too, about anything and everything. Julian said that he saw some boy named Tombo starting up an aviator club, and mentioned wanting to meet Kiki. She lazily raised an eyebrow up at Julian.

“Though, the only reason I knew this was because he kept calling you the witch lady.” Julian chuckled.

 

She scowled. “That’s awfully rude of him. You should always ask for a lady’s name, not just call her whatever.”

 

“I know, right? So inconsiderate. Where have all the manners gone?” He asked no one in particular before sighing.

 

“I guess where you keep your terrible pancakes,” Kiki joked, and they had a good laugh over it.

In the end, Kiki ended up in third place which was a total surprise to her. She smiled as they took her photo next to the other winners, and smiled as Brewster immediately cleared out a spot on his shelf for her trophy, where it proudly sat.

 

 

 

 

 

On slow days – especially on Saturday – Mister Brewster would sneakily close the café a bit early, putting an ‘out to lunch’ work sign. It would be at random hours of the day, and on Saturday, it would be late in the evening. On most slow days, they would go out to other cafes and do “field research” on what their competitors were doing, and simply to enjoy the nice sea breeze and a good lunch. He would actually keep the business talk to a minimum once he found out what he needed to find out, and they’d chat like friends did. Mister Brewster was a good listener, she noticed, because she ended up talking a lot more than he did, but he never gave a single gripe about it.

Kiki asked why he would put up a lunch sign so late at night, once, and he simply responded that because he spent so much time at the café, most people would actually believe he was out to lunch, even at strange hours at the night.

 

"Oh," she muttered.

 

"Besides....I _am_ getting lunch." He clarified, and he was right. He did indeed get lunch at the hour he said he was going to get lunch, every single time.

All of it was just to see Mister KK perform, she noticed – the same white dog who had convinced Mister Brewster to take her in, and the very same dog would drop on by on occasion. Mister KK worked as a DJ at a club in the city most nights, but Brewster only took her to see the guitar performances on Saturday. He said she was too young to go out “clubbing”, and by his tone, she didn’t ask, though she really didn’t even know what “clubbing” even meant. Mister Brewster once told her, on a way to a performance, that he had a small café in an old friend’s museum, and Mister KK would perform there too. That old friend was named Blathers, and he promised her he’d introduce them one day. Likely on a festival, he mumbled, when everyone would be too busy celebrating to think about coffee.

After a performance one night, Mister KK sat with her, noticing how she seemed a little distant, and wondered if he could help.

 

She sighed, looking down. "Well.... it's just that all witches have a special sort of talent they can do. And well, I mean.... I like working for Mister Brewster, and I've gotten really good at making coffee now because of him, but..... I don't have any witch talent. All I can do is fly around, really. But I have to do something and I just don't know what." All witches had a special talent; her mother had potion making, that one witch she met in the sky said she read tarot cards, and she knew of a witch who could heal people of certain diseases. But Kiki hadn’t developed any special talents. She just… flew. Any witch worth her salt could do _that_.

 

KK hummed, thinking for a beat. "Well, if you can fly..... Then why not open a delivery service? I think this town could appreciate a delivery service run by you, and good ol' Brewster won't mind."

 

"A delivery service," Kiki parroted, thinking out loud. "...You know, Mister KK, I think... I can do that!"

 

 

 

 

 

In her barista uniform, she was adjusting a felt patch Brewster ordered for her from a hedgehog named Mabel, who ran a clothing and accessories story with her two sisters. Today was the day she was going to open her new delivery service, as she tried to find the perfect angle. She ran outside and inside, to see how it would look coming out and coming in. She sighed happily once she finished fiddling with it, and just admired it. She was so thankful Mister Brewster had let her do this. She was so thankful for everything he had done.“Okay, Mister Brewster! I’m done! Doesn’t it look amazing?”

She was so happy with herself as she tightened up her apron, going behind the counter as Mister Brewster took out his blends, cooing in approval. After her shift was done, she was going to launch her delivery service!


End file.
